By David Armstrong Caveat Lector: Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.is rated TV-MA, and more importantly, spoilers follow for it below. Plenty of other people have written on what makes the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing—M.O.D.O.K., for short—among the most ridiculous products of Marvel’s long publishing history, and therefore what is just so comedically perfect about the first (but hopefully…
Author: matthewbrake84
Book Review: Theology and the Marvel Universe
The good folks over at the American Academy of Religion’s Reading Religion book review site have posted a very nice review of the Theology and the Marvel Universe book from the Theology and Pop Culture series! The review, written by A.G. Holdier, highlights the book’s depth and breadth of content, which may seem daunting to…
Call for Papers: Theology and the Avett Brothers
Editor: Dr. Alex Sosler Folk music has a long history of theological and redemptive themes, and the Avett Brothers receive and advance this rich heritage. The individuals of the Avett Brothers provide a broad spectrum of theological and spiritual concerns, and the concoction of religious influences leads to a unique theological viewpoint. Through their music,…
Jesus and Captain Ri
By Dr. Michael Chung Years of abuse against women in the name of conservative theological beliefs are shaking complementarianism. Prominent citizens like President Jimmy Carter and author/speaker Beth Moore have vocally announced their exodus from the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination that highly espouses patriarchal/complementarian values and beliefs. Houston Chronicle journalist Robert Downen, in a…
Call for Papers: Theology and Margaret Atwood
Since the recent success of the TV series The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood—who has always enjoyed an enthusiastic “fan base” and coterie of admiring readers—has gained a renewed prominence and her work has entered into a kind of renaissance as readers (re)discover her extensive catalogue of writings, including novels, essays, short stories, poetry, and other edited…
Call for Papers: Theology and LOST
Due Date for Abstracts: August 1, 2021 Few commercial television series in recent memory had such a lasting impact on its viewers as did the TV series “Lost” which aired 2004-2010, and although the series is now over a decade old, it is still available on streaming services and its themes are still relevant, perhaps…
Reflections on Raya and the Last Dragon Part 2: On Steps of Faith and the Redemptive Power of Charity
By Jeremy E. Scarbrough This is the continuation of a two-part reflectionon themes that stood out to me after viewing Raya and the Last Dragon when it debuted. In Part I, I pondered the worldview-nature of narratives in general and Raya’s fascination with the human condition in particular. I also considered the significance of sacrifice in the film….
Analyzing Religion in Jonathan Hickman’s House of X #3
Hello friends! Again, I wanted to link another chapter of David Canham’s ongoing blog series over at Sequart about Jonathan Hickman’s House of X/Powers of X series, which kicked off his current run on the X-Men. David presents another terrific analysis of the religious themes in Hickman’s work. Here is an excerpt: “Cyclops asks two…
Call for Papers: Theology and the Riordanverse
Editors: Nathan E. Fleeson and Carolyn M. Jones Medine 2020 marked the 15thAnniversary of the publication of the first book in the Percy Jackson series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, as well as what Rick Riordan claims will be the last in the series, The Trials of Apollo: The Tower of Nero. In those…
Reflections on Raya and the Last Dragon – Part 1: How Did Our World Get So Broken?
By Jeremy E. Scarbrough As we are currently amidst the publication process of Lexington’s forthcoming volume on Disney and Moral Theology, I find myself wishing that we could have included just one more chapter—a chapter dedicated to Raya and the Last Dragon, because I think it is theologically rich and it would be scholastically rewarding to unpack…
Pop Culture and Theology 